THE WATNEY CUP

THE WATNEY CUP   Watney was the first sponsored competition played for by Football League clubs - Watney's being a major brewer back then with Watney's Red Barrel providing the bulk of my liquid intake at the time. The Watney Mann Invitation Cup, joined the national fixture list at the start of the 1970/71 season. The competition was made up of 8 clubs - two from each of the four divisions who in the previous season had been the top scorers in their division and who had not been either promoted or won a place in a European competition.

It initially proved to be a popular competition adding a bit of competitive spice to the normally pedestrian pre-season friendly fixture list. It also proved to be innovative by introducing to the British game the penalty shoot-out to settle drawn matches. In the second season of the competition there was an experiment with the rules with offside being restricted only to the penalty area. It proved to be a success with fewer stoppages and less defensive football.

It also opened the eyes of the football world to a new and eventually lucrative source of money from sponsorship. Competing clubs not only had a share of gate receipts and TV income but each participating side received £4,000 for entering. Another £500 went to each first round winners, £500 more for a victory in the semis and £1000 for the winners. In addition The Football League and Football Association shared £50,000 from the sponsors. So perhaps not surprisingly only one club ever declined an invitation to enter.

With proven goalscorers making up the competing clubs the first season saw each match averaging over 4 goals and 21,012 spectators a game going through the turnstiles.  That second statistic was helped by Manchester United's participation and the fact that - for the only time in the four years of the competition - both finalists were from the First Division.

Manchester United competed in the second season and their 2-1 first round defeat at Halifax saw the top attendance in the competition - 19,765 (gate receipts £7,782) - but overall the average dropped to 12,196. Manchester United qualified for the third Watney Cup in 1972  but declined the invitation. Presumably following their early defeat at Halifax in 1971 they wanted a more secure pre-season fixture list and arranged friendlies in Torquay, Bournemouth, Copenhagen and Berlin when the Watney Cup was being decided. Bristol Rovers won the 1972 tournament with average attendances slipping again, to 11,648.

The giant-killing of 1971 and 1972 came to an end in 1973 when First Division Stoke won the competition and that helped increase the average crowd to 13,196 but despite that improvement the 1973 tournament proved to be the fourth and final staging of the competition.

Full results -1970/71 Competing clubs -

First Division - Derby County & Manchester United
Second Division - Hull City and Sheffield United
Third Division - Fulham & Reading
Fourth Division - Aldershot and Peterborough United

First Round (Saturday August 1st 1970) Final Attendance: 32,049 Saturday 8th August 1970  DerbyCounty 4 (McFarland, Hinton, Durban,Mackay) Manchester United 1 (Best) TEAMS Derby County  Green;Webster, Robson, Durban, McFarland, Mackay, McGovern, Carlin, O'Hare, Hector, Hinton. Manchester UnitedStepney; Edwards, Dunne, Crerand, Ure, Sadler, Morgan (sub: Stiles), Law (sub: Fitzpatrick), Charlton, Kidd, Best.  Many very important names in football history!!

JIMMY FLOYD HASSELBAINK-A MIXED BAG

On this day in 1999, Leeds (no messing!) United FC, Chairman at the time, Peter Ridsdale refused to succumb to the wage demands of one of his "starlets", Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink! To avoid the issue, Ridsdale sold him to Atletico Madrid for £12 million...a reasonable price for a decent centre-forward. After being Leeds' top scorer for the previous two years, Jimmy was demanding that the club splashed out £60,000 A WEEK for his services! Obviously he would have become the highest paid player in the League!  Jimmy's Mr 15 got his way in the end as Atletico threw money at the striker but were promptly relegated that season!! Tough stuff, Jimmy.

Senior career* as a PLAYER!
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1990–1991	Telstar	4	(0)
1991–1994	AZ Alkmaar	46	(5)
1994–1995	Neerlandia
1995–1996	Campomaiorense	31	(12)
1996–1997	Boavista	29	(20)
1997–1999	Leeds United	69	(34)
1999–2000	Atlético Madrid	34	(24)
2000–2004	Chelsea	136	(69)
2004–2006	Middlesbrough	58	(22)
2006–2007	Charlton Athletic	25	(2)
2007–2008	Cardiff City	36	(7)
Total		468	(195)
International career
1998–2002	Netherlands	27	(9)

He was signed by English side, Leeds Utd, for £2 million before the 1997–98 season, where he established himself as a prolific goalscorer and he went on to win the Premier League Golden Boot award in 1999. He was sold on to Spanish club Atletico Madrid for £10 million the same year, reaching the final of the Copa del Rei despite the club also suffering relegation from La Liga. After that he had a lot of fun....in England!! You have to wonder why he had so many "moves"??

International career
1998–2002	Netherlands	27	(9)
Managerial career
2013–2014	Royal Antwerp
2014–2015	Burton Albion
2015–2016	Queens Park Rangers
2017–2018	Northampton Town
2021–2022	Burton Albion

In March 2023, Hasselbaink was hired as a coach for the England national team, in a move that reunited him with former Middlesbrough teammate Gareth Southgate. In August 2024, following Southgate's departure in the aftermath of England's UEFA Euro 2024 final defeat, Hasselbaink also departed his role as assistant head coach. In December 2025, Hasselbaink was announced as assistant coach for the Suriname national team, joining a coaching staff with Winston Bogarde, under head coach, Henk ten Cate. TOMORROW.....Football was not giving him enough ££££.....what happened next to help?

POUNDS, SHILLINGS AND PENCE???

 3rd August 1929

When football was starting to become popular The Wednesday Cricket Club in Sheffield formed a football offshoot calling the new club - believe it or not - The Wednesday Football Club. Ok, the new club  was generally known as the Sheffield Wednesday but their official name when they joined the Football League in 1892 and won their first League Championship in 1903 remained The Wednesday Football Club. It wasn't until 3rd August 1929 that they finally did the paperwork to become Sheffield Wednesday FC, officially.

The club was initially a cricket team named The Wednesday Cricket Club, after the day of the week on which they played their matches. It was common for shops and business to close on a Wednesday afternoon, as they were normally "open for business" on Saturday mornings.  The footballing side of the club was established to keep the team together and fit during the winter months. SWFC was born on the evening of Wednesday 4 September 1867 at a meeting at the Adelphi Hotel in Sheffield. The formation was announced two days later with the following statement in the Sheffield Independent newspaper:

SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY CRICKET CLUB AND FOOTBALL CLUB. – At a general meeting held on Wednesday last, at the Adelphi Hotel, it was decided to form a football club in connection with the above influential cricket club, with the object of keeping together during the winter season the members of this cricket club. From the great unanimity which prevailed as to the desirability of forming the club, there is every reason to expect that it will take first rank. The office bearers were elected as follows: – President, Mr. B. Chatterton; vice-president and treasurer, Mr. F. S. Chambers; hon. Secretary, Mr. Jno. Marsh; assistant, Mr. Castleton. Committee: Messrs Jno. Rodgers, Jno. White, C. Stokes, and H. Bocking. About sixty were enrolled without any canvas, some of them being the best players of the town.

Even at this first meeting it became apparent that football would soon come to eclipse the cricketing side of the club. The formation of the football club came within a decade of the first football club in the world, Sheffield FC being formed. Hallam FC. was set up shortly afterwards and by 1867 Association football was becoming very popular. The Wednesday played their first football match in October 1867 against the Mechanics Club at Norfolk Park, a game which they won by three goals and four rouges to nil. 

You may like to search for the definition of a "rouge".

By 1 February 1868 Wednesday were playing their first competitive football match as they entered the Cromwell Cup, a four-team competition for newly formed clubs sponsored by Oliver Cromwell, (no not THE OC!!) but the manager of the local Theatre Royal!!! They went on to win the cup, beating Cromwell's own team, The Garrick Club 1–0 after extra time in the final at Bramwell Lane. The match has its own place in history with Wednesday being the scorers in the first recorded instance of a "golden goal" although the term was not used at the time.

Wednesday were joined by the Clegg brothers, Charles and William in 1870. Charles became the club's first international player when he played in the very first international on 30 November 1872.^[4] William represented the Wednesday in the next international on 8 March 1873.^[5] Both players would go on to be associated with the club for the rest of their lives. Although it would be Charles who became most heavily involved in football eventually rising to become president and chairman of the FA.  Both the Cleggs received knighthoods in later life.

In 1876 Wednesday were joined by James Lang. The directors of the club had seen him playing for Glasgow against the Sheffield FA representative side. He was subsequently invited to come to Sheffield and play for the club and given a job, working in a silversmiths owned by one of the directors, which involved no formal duties. This is now acknowledged as the first case of professionalism in the game.

Sheffield's first annual tournament, the Sheffield FA Challenge Cup, was inaugurated in 1876 and won by Wednesday who beat Heeley, their chief rivals at the time, in the final 4–3 after extra time. They would go on to also win the first Wharncliffe Cup in 1879. By this time Wednesday had become the dominant force in local football.

Rocky road to professionalism

Leaflet advertising the opening match at Olive Grove between 'The Wednesday' and Blackburn Rovers on 12 September 1887.

In 1879 a number of Wednesday players were involved in a team referred to as The Zulus The team was set up to raise funds for the families of victims of the Zulu War. They toured the north of England and Scotland but after allegations that the players were being paid, a practice that was illegal at the time, the team was forced to disband by the Sheffield FA in 1882.

In the summer of 1882, after a season in which The Wednesday reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup, the cricket and football teams split permanently, and by the end of 1925 the cricket team had disbanded. In the 1880s Wednesday became a permanent fixture in the FA Cup as they attempted to move away from local competitions, however in the 1886-7 season Wednesday did not meet the deadline for entry and a revolt by several of their most skilful players followed.

Several players, all involved in the earlier Zulus controversy, temporarily left the club to play for a local works team which had managed to submit its entry on time. Later in the season the same players threatened to walk out permanently and set up a professional club called Sheffield Rovers. Wednesday's president at the time, John Holmes, was against the club turning professional, but under the immense pressure of the possibility of losing his star players he entered into talks with the rebels, eventually offering professional terms. At the meeting called to set up Sheffield Rovers, one of the rebel players, Tom Cawley, argued that Wednesday should be given one final chance and the football club duly turned professional on 22 April 1887. The initial wages were five shillings for home fixtures and seven shillings and sixpence for away games. (for the record there were twenty shillings in the Pound (£)!! and a Shilling was worth 12p! (20 x 12 = 240p!!)...seems a long time ago!

BELOW: FA CUP WINNERS 1896...Wednesday who beat Wolves 2-1 at The Crystal Palace, watched by just over 48,800. The Trophy was a new one, bought by previous winners, Aston Villa, who lost the old trophy!

ROWLANDSON, CARTHUSIANS, ENGLISH AND THE GERMANS

This weekend, as the country remembers the start of the First World War, I have to mention the 1000 or so Carthusians, members of the "Public School in Godalming", who fought and died for their country in the two World Wars. As August 1914 came round, over 600 boys/men associated with the school, signed up, fought and died. About 300 died later in World War 2. Many other schools all over the country suffered similar losses. The German government believed that the onset of war and its support of Austria-Hungary was a way to secure its place as a leading power, which was supported by public nationalism and further united it behind the monarchy.

Thomas Rowlandson (pictured) was an old boy of Charterhouse School and he was a member of the famous Old Carthusians Football Club. As a goalkeeper, with family roots in Darlington, he played for Cambridge University, Sunderland in 1904-5, England XIs  and the famous Corinthian FC of England. He perished on the parapet of a German trench, ahead of his men, fighting and leading in 1915, at the Somme. A year before his death, in August 1914, the Corinthian Football Club was heading to Brazil on a goodwill football tour, when they heard, on landing at Pernambuco, that hostilities had started in Europe. 

Two Carthusians in the tour party, John Fosdick, a Cambridge Blue and John Tetley, who played for the Corinthians, immediately found another ship heading to Europe and they joined the war as soon as they could. Fosdick died in action in 1915 and Tetley during the build up to Ypres in 1917. Worth reflecting on this the next time you don't get a decision from the REF! 

Personal data

• NameJOHN HYLAND FOSDICK 


• Place of birth Samford, Suffolk, England
  
• 
  
  
• FamilyOnly son of William Edwin and Isabella Carlisle, of 84, Latham Terrace, Crank, St. Helens, Lancs.
• EducationBowden House Preparatory School in Seaford, Sussex; Charterhouse; Pembroke College (Cambridge)
• Extra infoMentioned on the war memorial of Bowden House Preparatory School in Seaford

Military serviceRank

• Lieutenant
• Regiment and unit7th Bn. Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own)
• Other data related to military careerAppointed to the 7th (Service) Bn. October 1914; went abroad in May 1915 
• Death Wounded 30 July, trenches Hooge Type of wounds Shrapnel wounds Date of death 31 July 1915, Died at 20 years old. Grave reference Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery I - A - 5

• 
death...Killed in Action....
The Day of the Battle of Poelcapelle
France and Flanders
Belgium9th October 1917

ROKER PARK ANNIVERSARY

 On July 31st 1991, Roker Park with its famous "ROAR", had been home to Sunderland for 99 years, was soon to have its days "numbered". Following the Taylor Report and the demand for all seater stadiums, the ancient ground was soon regarded as too small and so was planned for expansion. The Sunderland club built the Stadium of Light, replacing the historic ground in 1997. Sunderland FC invited the Dutch "champion side" to help open the new home, playing an historic game on the glistening new ground. This was the eighth home of the club with seating for over 49,000 fans and what became the 10th largest football stadium in England. Chairman, at the time, Bob Murray chose the new name to reflect the coal mining heritage of the north-east of England. The stadium was built on the site of former Monkwearmouth Colliery, reflecting the coal-mining heritage of  the region. A Davy Lamp (know what this is?) monument it set on the entrance to the stadium, reflecting the coal mining industry that brought prosperity to the region.

As well as hosting Sunderland games, the stadium has hosted three matches for the England international matches as well as Under 20/21 matches and two women's games With an original capacity of 42,000, it was expanded in 2000 to seat 49,000. Its simple design is apparently to allow for redevelopments up to a capacity of 64,000. The attendance record at the Stadium of Light is 48,353 set on 13 April 2002, when Sunderland played Liverpool, but with the visitors running out 1–0 winners. Along with hosting football matches, the stadium has played host to performers such as Rihanna, Oasis, Take That, Coldplay, Spice Girls and Elton John!! Remember them? 

The ground also holds conference and banqueting suites, the Black Cats Bar, and a club shop selling much sought after Sunderland merchandise! Hooray! KNOW WHERE IT IS?

Full name	Stadium of Light
Address	Millennium Way
Location	Monkwearmouth England SR5 1SU
Owner	Sunderland 100%
Capacity	49,000 – football 60,000 – concerts
Record attendance	Football: 48,353 (Sunderland v Liverpool, 13 April 2002) Concerts: 60,000 (Ed Sheeran, 3 June 2022)
Field size	115 × 75 yards (105 × 68 metres)
Construction
Groundbreaking	May 1996
Opened	30 July 1997; 29 years ago
Expanded	2000
Cost	£24 million
Architect	PNF Architects
Main contractors	Ballast Wiltshire

THE FIRST WORLD CUP-96 YEARS AGO

The 1930 FIFA World Cup was the first world championship for men's natioanl football teams. It took place in Uruguay from 13th to 30th July 1930. FIFA, football's international governing body, selected Uruguay as the host nation, as the country would be celebrating the centenary of its first constitution and the Uruguay national football team had retained their football title at the 1928 Summer Olympics. All matches were played in the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo, the majority at the purpose-built Estadio Centenario.

Thirteen teams (seven from South America, four from Europe, NOT England!! and two from North America) entered the tournament. Only a handful of European teams chose to participate because of the difficulty of traveling to South America during the Great Depression. The teams were divided into four groups, with the winner of each group progressing to the semi-finals. The first two World Cup matches took place simultaneously and were won by France and the United States, who defeated Mexico 4–1 and Belgium 3–0, respectively. Lucien Laurent of France scored the first goal in World Cup history, while United States goalkeeper Jimmy Douglas posted the first clean sheet in the tournament the same day.

Argentina, Uruguay, the United States, and Yugoslavia won their respective groups to qualify for the semi-finals. In the Final, hosts and pre-tournament favourites Uruguay defeated Argentina 4–2 in front of 68,346 people to become the first nation to win the World Cup. Fransico Varallo from Argentina was the last surviving player from this World Cup. He died in 2010 at the age of 100. The planned 2030 Tournament opening match to be played at Estadio Centenario will honor the centennial anniversary of the World Cup.

The 1930 FIFA World Cup Final was the first to be contested by two nations sharing the same primary language, as both sides were Spanish-speaking, and remained the only such final for 96 years, until the 2026 Tournament between Argentina and Spain. As of 2026, it is also the only final contested between two South American nations (the 1950 match between Brazil and Uruguay was the deciding match of the final group stage, not an actual cup final).

Left: Lucien Laurent (10 December 1907 – 11 April 2005), a French footballer who played as a forward. At the 1930 World Cup, he scored the first ever FIFA World Cup goal, against Mexico.

**Because of a dispute, a different ball was used in each half, one chosen by each team. Argentina's ball (top) was used for the first half and Uruguay's ball (bottom) was used for the second half.

We were playing Mexico and it was snowing, since it was winter in the southern hemisphere. One of my team mates centred the ball and I followed its path carefully, taking it on the volley with my right foot. Everyone was pleased but we didn't all roll around on the ground – nobody realised that history was being made. A quick handshake and we got on with the game. And no bonus either; we were all amateurs in those days, right to the end.

— Lucien Laurent

HUNT AND DIVE BOMBER

 29th July 1959

Well this is something that doesn’t seem to happen nowadays. A big club signs a non-league player who helps that club into an era when they dominated English football. The non-league club was Stockton Heath (that later became Warrington Town). The big club was Liverpool and the player they signed on 29th July 1959 was Roger Hunt. A little over a month later he made his debut for the Reds, scoring in the Second Division defeat of Scunthorpe at Anfield. He finished that season as club top scorer. 

Hunt did the same in 1961/62, with the 41 League goals he scored in 41 League outings, that remains a club record to this day. The 1961/62 season was the first of eight seasons in a row when he finished as Liverpool’s top scorer. In total he scored 285 goals in 492 league and cup appearances for Liverpool – a club record goals figure until Ian Rush came along – while his 245 goals in 404 league outings is still a club record. The goals figure includes the first-ever goal seen on the ‘Match of the Day’ programme. In his stay at Anfield – which lasted until December 1969, when he joined Bolton – he won two League Championship medals, a Second Division Division Championship medal and an FA Cup winners' medal, not forgetting a World Cup winning medal for England in 1966. And he became a genuine Liverpool legend.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAhNqoggQV8&t=2s

Football on This Day – 29th July 1994
On this day, Spurs clinched a transfer coup, when they sign one of the stars of the World Cup, Jürgen Klinsmann. The German ‘Dive Bomber’ cost £2 million with the signing being completed on Alan Sugar’s yacht moored off Monte Carlo!! "Dive Bomber"!!!!

Klinsmann moved to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League for the 1994-5 season, where the fans and media were very critical of the German because of his reputation as a diver. He was signed by Spurs in July 1994 from Monaco for £2 million. On his debut against Sheffield Wednesday he scored the winning header and immediately won over fans with his goal by self-deprecatingly, celebration, diving to the ground. A Guardian journalist who had written an article called "Why I Hate Jürgen Klinsmann", wrote another two months later called "Why I Love Jürgen Klinsmann". Klinsmann went on to win the 1995 Football Writers' Association, player of the year.

Because of his humour, but also because of his athletic achievements and his combative playing style, Klinsmann quickly became extremely popular in England; over 150,000 of his shirts were sold. He now holds legendary status at Spurs and was inducted into Madame Tussauds Wax Museum.